Mingtiandi

Asia real estate and outbound investment news

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Sign Up / Login Logout

Lost your password?
Register
Forgotten Password
Cancel

Register For This Site

A password will be e-mailed to you.

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
      • Asia Proptech 2021: COVID-19 Accelerates a Trend
      • Panel Talk: Tech Adoption in Logistics Real Estate
    • Promote Your Brand with the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Design & Construction
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

ESR Finalises $522M Buy-Out of Australia’s Propertylink

2018/11/14 by Jan Kot Leave a Comment

phil pearce ESR

Phil Pearce is on a mission to expand ESR’s Aussie business

Warburg Pincus-backed ESR has clinched a deal to buy out Sydney-based real estate investment manager Propertylink in a deal that values the Australian company at A$723.4 million ($522.51 million), according to an announcement by Propertylink to the Australian stock exchange.

Propertylink on Monday revealed a binding agreement with ESR that agrees to an offer from the Hong Kong-based warehouse developer and fund manager to buy out the stake that it doesn’t already own in the Aussie real estate firm, and follows a month of due diligence by ESR.

The agreement for the off-market takeover bid follows more than a year of maneuvering by the Pan-Asian warehouse investment platform and its Aussie head Phil Pearce, to expand the company’s footprint in the Asian market.

Offer Boosted by Over 4%

“The Directors of Propertylink are pleased to have entered into a binding Bid Implementation Agreement with ESR,” Propertylink’s chairman, Peter Lancken said in the statement. “ESR’s Offer provides Propertylink security-holders an opportunity to realise certain value for their Propertylink securities, at an attractive premium to Propertylink’s trading price prior to the receipt of ESR’s initial proposal and NTA.”

According to the company’s filing, the agreed offer price of A$1.202 is 4.3 percent higher than ESR’s initial offer price of A$1.15 in September, and represents a 14.3 percent premium to the closing price of Propertylink securities at 20 September 2018, being the day prior to the announcement of ESR’s initial proposal to acquire Propertylink.

The offer price also represents 15.2 percent premium to the six-month volume weighted average price of Propertylink securities to 20 September 2018 of A$1.04.

Buyout Ends Competition for Centuria

The offer is, however, subject to a number of conditions which include minimum acceptance of at least 50.1 percent of all Propertylink securities, no material adverse change, no prescribed occurrences, no regulatory action or material acquisitions, disposals, capital expenditure or change in the conduct of business.

ESR, which already owns 19.9 percent of Propertylink, launched a A$693 million ($505 million) all-cash offer for Propertylink in September on the condition of a peaceful settlement to a year-long battle between Propertylink and ESR for control of Aussie industrial REIT, Centuria.

Propertyllink gave its tick of approval to ESR’s offer one month later in mid October. In doing so, Propertylink agreed not to proceed with its non-binding, indicative proposal, worth A$755 million, to acquire Centuria Industrial REIT, in which ESR also holds a 14.9 percent stake.

Centuria, which controls an A$1 billion property portfolio of industrial and logistics centres as well as owning 9.3 percent of Propertylink, had its own ambition to take over Propertylink a year ago, before Propertylink rebuffed that effort.

ESR Builds Australian Presence

Underpinning the tangled world of inter-connected shareholdings was the players’ desire to get access to high-quality industrial assets backed by the rise of the e-commerce sector and strong demand for warehouse facilities. Land values and rents for logistics assets in Australia were near all-time highs, particularly along the country’s eastern seaboard, suggested The Sydney Morning Herald.

ESR’s take over of Propertylink includes this warehouse at 2 Costello Place in Sydney

ESR formally entered the Australian market in July when it acquired the Commercial and Industrial Property (CIP) platform along with its management team from real estate investment firm Charter Hall for A$102.5 million.

The acquisition gave ESR the substantial Australian presence that it has been looking for since at least early 2016 when it entered ultimately unsuccessful discussions with Aussie industrial developer Goodman Group for the purchase of a set of three Australian logistics portfolios worth some A$1 billion.

Pearce, who became chief executive of ESR Australia in July as part of the CIP investment, said to The Sydney Morning Herald in a recent interview that the launch of ESR Australia underlines ESR’s commitment to a long-term presence in Australia.

“Fundamentally, the outlook of the Australian industrial property market is as good as it gets and ESR plans to be a long-term player here. Property is always a good hedge against inflation and gives strong capital returns,” he added.

ESR Keeps Up Growth Pace

ESR took its current form in January 2016 through the merger of two of the region’s fastest-growing warehouse developers, Shanghai-based e-Shang and Singapore’s Redwood Group.

Backed by some of the world’s leading pension funds and investment managers, including APG, CPPIB, Goldman Sachs, PGGM, Ping An and SK Holdings, ESR has over 10 million square of projects owned and under development across China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and India. The company also runs capital and fund management offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Related Stories

  • GIC Backs A$1B ESR Australia Logistics Development PartnershipGIC Backs A$1B ESR Australia Logistics Development Partnership
  • ESR Raising A$138M Through Aussie Office InitiativeESR Raising A$138M Through Aussie Office Initiative
  • ESR Buys Aussie Warehouse Developer for A$103M, Hires Phil Pearce as CEOESR Buys Aussie Warehouse Developer for A$103M, Hires Phil Pearce as CEO
  • ESR Gets A$480M Australia Commitment From GIC, Signs Japanese Mega-LeaseESR Gets A$480M Australia Commitment From GIC, Signs Japanese Mega-Lease

Share this now

  • LinkedIn
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Filed Under: Logistics Tagged With: Australia, daily-sp, ESR, Logistics, Philip Pearce, Propertylink Holdings Ltd

MTD Proptech Report Download

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Yardi Investment Manager 2

Get Mingtiandi Delivered

MTD Proptech Report

Latest Stories

Andrew-Slevin-John-Foord (4)

Insurtech to Help Address Underinsurance Across Asian Real Estate Assets in 2021 Sponsored Feature

Chief Investment Officer for Asia, Hines

Hines Hires New Asia Investment Chief as Fund Management Business Grows

Tom Woolhouse Joins JLL in Singapore to Lead APAC Industrial Team

Knight Frank Taps Candy Zhao for China COO Job

Sponsored Features

Andrew-Slevin-John-Foord (4)

Insurtech to Help Address Underinsurance Across Asian Real Estate Assets in 2021 Sponsored Feature

CK Lau

Asia Pacific Logistics Sector: Increasingly Varied Sector Requires Multiple Approaches Sponsored Feature

COVID-19 Uncertainty Creates New Priorities for Real Estate Investors Sponsored Feature

Urban planning

Urban Placemaking with Big Data and Little People Sponsored Feature

More Sponsored Features>>

MTD-QR-Code-320

Top Stories

Eagle Hospitality Trust Hotels Declare Bankruptcy as Singapore REIT CollapsesEagle Hospitality Trust Hotels Declare Bankruptcy as Singapore REIT Collapses

Allianz Fund Buys Stake in SG Tower for $477M, Picks Up Shanghai Office ComplexAllianz Fund Buys Stake in SG Tower for $477M, Picks Up Shanghai Office Complex

Hines Hires New Asia Investment Chief as Fund Management Business GrowsHines Hires New Asia Investment Chief as Fund Management Business Grows

Tech Adoption in Asian Real Estate: Download the ReportTech Adoption in Asian Real Estate: Download the Report


Connect with Mingtiandi

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Real Estate News

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
      • Asia Proptech 2021: COVID-19 Accelerates a Trend
      • Panel Talk: Tech Adoption in Logistics Real Estate
    • Promote Your Brand with the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Design & Construction
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

More Mingtiandi

  • About Mingtiandi
  • Contact Mingtiandi
  • Newsletter Subscription
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Advertise
  • Join the Mingtiandi Team

We use cookies in accordance with our Privacy policy to provide the best user experience on Mingtiandi and to safeguard user data. By continuing to browse you consent to the policy. AcceptRefuse